Meet Amanda

Amanda lived in a household ruled by drugs and regular abuse by her father. After the death of her mother, and at 17 years of age, Amanda “married” a man in his 30’s who was a friend of her father’s. By all accounts, this man also routinely controlled and abused Amanda psychologically for most of her waking moments. This man was feared not only by Amanda but by all members of the local community. When a local woman was found brutally murdered, Amanda’s abusive father and husband were charged with the crime. Her husband was sentenced to life, but charges against her father were dropped. In order to free Amanda’s father, Amanda’s similarly abused younger brother implicated Amanda in the crime five years after its commission.

Amanda was convicted of second degree murder on May 27, 2004. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Her defense at trial on the murder charge lasted a total of 3 minutes, from 12:59pm to 1:02pm. Since the time of her arrest in 2003, she has maintained her innocence and continuously denies being at the scene of the crime. In addition, her younger brother has since recanted his implication of Amanda.